Max Verstappen is set to become just the second F1 world champion whose team fail win the constructors' championship on multiple occasions.
Despite the Dutchman set to become a four-time world champion following an imperious victory in the wet and wild Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, his Red Bull team are in severe danger of not retaining its constructors' championship crown.
In this case, Verstappen sits atop the drivers' championship by 62 points from Lando Norris, with 86 left on the board - meaning if Verstappen leaves Las Vegas 60 ahead, he will join Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel as a four-time champion.
However, Red Bull is currently third in the constructors', some 49 points behind leaders McLaren, with Ferrari sandwiched between the two. This is mainly down to the woeful underperformance of Sergio Perez, who has scored just 48 points in the 13 races since the Emilia Romagna GP.
It means that if, as expected, there will be split F1 drivers' and constructors' champions from different teams for the 12th time, Verstappen will be on his second such split - after 2021 where he won the drivers' and Mercedes the constructors'.
He would be just the second world champion to have this happen on multiple occasions, after Nelson Piquet - the father of his partner Kelly - whose 1981 and 1983 crowns for Brabham were met with constructors' titles for Williams and Ferrari, respectively.
In one crumb of comfort, Verstappen will not equal the worst showing for a drivers' champion's team, which came in 1982 through Keke Rosberg.
In the normally-aspirated Williams, Rosberg won one race on his way to the title, as Williams finished a lowly fourth. Aside from this and a third-place for Piquet's Brabham in 1983, every other split championship has ended with the drivers' team finishing in second place.
The first split championship actually happened in the very first season of the constructors', which was first awarded in 1958, after the drivers' in 1950.
Mike Hawthorn became Britain's first world champion for Ferrari, but Vanwall, with Stirling Moss clinched the inaugural constructors' crown.
Times F1 drivers' and constructors' titles have been split
| Year | Drivers' title - team | Constructors' title | Drivers' team position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Mike Hawthorn - Ferrari | Vanwall | 2nd |
| 1973 | Jackie Stewart - Tyrrell | Lotus | 2nd |
| 1976 | James Hunt - McLaren | Ferrari | 2nd |
| 1981 | Nelson Piquet - Brabham | Williams | 2nd |
| 1982 | Keke Rosberg - Williams | Ferrari | 4th |
| 1983 | Nelson Piquet - Brabham | Ferrari | 3rd |
| 1986 | Alain Prost - McLaren | Williams | 2nd |
| 1994 | Michael Schumacher- Benetton | Williams | 2nd |
| 1999 | Mika Hakkinen - McLaren | Ferrari | 2nd |
| 2008 | Lewis Hamilton - McLaren | Ferrari | 2nd |
| 2021 | Max Verstappen - Red Bull | Mercedes | 2nd |
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on last weekend's spectacular São Paulo Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's incredible victory from 17th is a leading talking point, and how the Dutchman is within touching distance of a fourth F1 drivers' title.
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